Nightmares
by SquintsUnited
Summary: Brennan has a nightmare and Booth is there to comfort her.


**Nightmares**

Temperance Brennan sat upright in her bed, tears welling over her eyes as she woke from her nightmare. The digital clock on her bedside told her it was around about midnight. Her breathing was laboured as she tried to compartmentalise, wiping the few tears that spilled over her eyelids but she couldn't help but cry. Her dream was horrific and she never wanted it to ever happen. It had seemed so realistic, so horrific. It had been a nice and normal afternoon in her dream and she had been walking down the sidewalk with Booth as they chatted about a new case when all of a sudden someone had jumped Brennan from an alleyway and tackled her to the ground.

Booth instantly pulled out his gun to threaten the attacker but he stopped when Brennan's attacker held a gun near her temple, the cold metal pressing hard. Her mouth was bleeding from the contact with the pavement and her breathing was heavy and she felt terrified. Her attacker ordered Booth to lower his gun otherwise Brennan would die and in his words "her brains would be splattered all over the cement". Booth lowered her gun and noted the terrified look in his partners' eyes and had put his gun down.

Carefully her attacker retreated into the darkness, taking Brennan with him the gun still pressed to her temple as the attacker threatened Booth again. Explaining that if he made a move, he would kill her. Right there and then. The mystery man rushed off with Brennan into the alleyway but she could hear footsteps as Booth chased after them. Soon enough she fell to the ground as her attacker had been tackled by Booth and his gun sprawled across the dark alleyway. Brennan's eyes widened at the sight them struggling against each other and without warning her attacker grabbed her by the hair, holding her by it before flinging her into the wall.

A scream erupted from Brennan's lips as she hit the brick wall hard and looked up just in time to see the man holding the gun now, pointed towards Booth who had been distracted by his hurt partner. Her body was trembling on the floor and Booth went to take a step forward which was his last mistake. The man fired and Booth's body jolted back, a crimson circle pooled on his t-shirt. Booth's breathing was heavy and his eyes were wide through shock at the sudden yet dirty attack.

Brennan's eyes widened as she tried to scramble towards her partner, not knowing why the attack had taken place but then again they had been walking down a strange neighbourhood. "Booth!" she screamed, but her attacker kicked her right in the stomach and bile formed in her throat as the attacker reached down and stole Booth's wallet before running off. Brennan resisted her urge to be sick and placed her hands over the wound, crimson red blood covering her hands completely.

"N-No! Booth! Stay with me. Come on Booth!" her voice was hysterical by this point and tears obscured her vision and within the last few minutes his lids shut completely and he was gone. Brennan had lay there sobbing on his body, refusing to move one inch. She was nothing without him. Brennan snapped back to reality as she remembered the dream and tried not to cry even more but it had seemed SO realistic. Tears pooled over her eyes again and Brennan shut her eyes ignoring the few tears that streamed down her face.

The only sound in her bedroom at the current time was her shallow breathing and the rain flooding down outside. Brennan willed herself to stand up to get out of bed and maybe get a drink or do something. Carefully she made her way towards the kitchen, groping around in the dark to find a glass. As she reached to grab on from the cupboard it fell and shattered on the bench top. A cry erupted from her lips as some glass cut through her hand and that's when she lost it completely. The crimson red blood reminded her of her dream and not to mention the fateful day that he had been shot in the karaoke bar by his stalker.

He had almost died and Brennan had tried to compartmentalise but she couldn't. All the memories flooded back, the ones she had repressed for so long and she sunk onto the kitchen tiles, ignoring the ripples of pain from her injured hand as the emotions swelled through her. She just couldn't take it anymore. The blood leaked onto her pyjama pants leaving a large stain but she didn't care about that for the moment.

Brennan knew she was alone, the thought of loosing Booth made her horrified and she didn't know what she would do without him. He had taught her so much, about love and life. Her loud sobs and wailings mixed with the soft pitter patter of the rain. No matter how she looked at it the pain still hit her hard. Without Seeley Booth, she was all alone.

* * *

_Seeley Booth awoke in his dark apartment in a sweat, his breathing coming out in short pants. He'd had the most horrible dream, and his heart was physically aching afterwards. There'd been a man... he was going to hurt his Bones. He'd put his life in danger and ended up getting killed for her. It was so real. He could swear he felt the thud in his heart as the bullet pierced through his skin. _

_He remembered her being thrown against the wall. Seeing that, it hurt more than the bullet. Had he had the chance, he would've shot that bastard right through the head and made his brains splatter over the sidewalk. _

_He needed to see her. To see she was okay. Even if she was sleeping and he just went in to see she was still breathing. That's all he needed. Just to see her._

_Silently, he calmed down and got dressed. He grabbed extra bullets from his dresser and shoved them in his pocket, holstering his gun. Just to be prepared. _

_Leaving his apartment, he broke several speeding laws to get to her house. He ran up the four flights of stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. He fumbled to unlock her door and was immediately worried when he heard sobs coming from the direction of the kitchen. _

_Images flashed through his head of her being held up at gunpoint and making that same whimper. He panicked and un-holstered his gun, pointing it at the ready as he entered the kitchen, checking his back every few seconds. _

_The sight that met him when he opened the door made his jaw drop. There was his Bones, collapsed on the floor against a kitchen cupboard. She was covered in blood and ultra pale. Tears were flowing out of her beautiful cerulean eyes and her chest was heaving in sobs, he knew she was still alive and thanked God. _

_He put his gun back after checking the room, and rushed over to her, eyeing the glass shattered around her, his eyes went wider. _

"_Bones? BONES?! Are you okay? Are you hurt??!" he yelled, placing a hand on her shoulder and bending down to be face to face with her, avoiding the glass. _

_She didn't answer, just simply sobbed heavier. He took her in his arms, not bothering about the blood he got all over him, and carried her to the couch where he sat down with her on his lap. She sobbed and he held her. As she calmed, he pulled back and took a proper look at her, recording her injuries. _

_She had a slit on her left wrist. It was bleeding pretty badly. He lifted her up and placed her next to him on the couch nest to him. Then, he removed his jacket and pulled off his shirt, leaving his chest bare. He wrapped the material around her wrist and held pressure while taking one more sweep of her. She looked like a crazy woman. That cut on her arm needed stitches for sure. If he took her to the hospital, they'd probably put her in the loony bin with Zack. _

_An idea sparked and he ran down to get the kit he kept in his car. "I'll make you better, Bones," he whispered before running down the stairs. _

_* * *_

Brennan had heard her partner but didn't want to respond, knowing that if she did she would burst into more tears and seem weak. Her emotions were her weakness, that and being alone and she hated that more than anything. Before Brennan knew it she was on the couch cuddled into his arms, his slow breathing was comforting and his chest was warm. She squeezed her eyelids shut a few tears escaping her lids in protest to her closing her eyes.

She bit her lip holding back a cry of pain as Booth pressed his jacket to the wound on her wrist that had been made by the glass only a few minutes ago. His words were the most comforting thing of all and she almost broke out into sobs again. I'll make you better Bones. When she heard her front door shut Brennan looked up, opening her teary eyes again to see he was gone and she suddenly felt alone again even if he had just gone to his car.

She curled up in a small ball on the couch and placed more pressure on her bleeding wound, the smell of her own blood fresh in the air and it reminded her of that damn dream, of the actual day Seeley Booth had almost died. Small sobs started again and her small frame was shaking on the couch. "Booth.. d-don't ever leave me.. p-please.." she whispered to herself, removing the jacket from her wound and cuddling it to her chest and taking in his scent before sobbing more.

* * *

_Booth re-entered the apartment minutes later, with his first aid kit. He heard her whimpering. He ran into the lounge room. She immediately looked up at him and began sobbing more. He could see her face clearly from the moonlight coming in through the window. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she had red rings around her eyes from crying so much. His heart ached and he immediately rushed to her and scooped her up in his arms again. _

_The wound's bleeding had not slowed and he applied pressure, pressing a kiss to her temple and whispering soothingly in her ear; "It's okay, Bones. I'm here. I'll never leave you," he promised, holding her as tight as possible. _

"_I'm going to fix up your hand, okay?" He told her, and received a small nod and a sniffle. He placed her on the couch next to the lamp on the side table, turning it on. He efficiently collected his equipment and spread a cloth on the side of the couch, and placed her arm on it, carefully removing the cloth of his shirt and dabbing the wound with disinfectant and numbing agents. He looked into her cerulean blue eyes and began to stitch. _

_* * * _

Brennan shivered against Booth's body, feeling the pain from the laceration on her hand start to grow as the numbing feeling of shock wore away. Resting her head on his shoulder she shut her eyes, a few tears spilling over her lids. She knew she didn't have the will to talk, any words that would leave her mouth would result in her breaking into tears again and she'd already shown enough of her weakness to Booth and that was probably the only person she'd feel comfortable showing it to. Her body shivered again and she bit her lip in an attempt to stop herself from crying out. "It hurts..." was all she could utter.

* * *

"_It's okay, Bones. It's not going to hurt for much longer," Booth promised, digging around in his kit. "I'm going to put this serum on there, it should numb the pain," he explained, his fingers deftly going about the job. _

"_There you go, Bones. You'll be all better in no time at all," Booth assured her, wrapping a bandage around her wrist. She looked at him, the innocence conveyed in her eyes._

"_Come on, let's get you out of these clothes," he said, helping her up and guiding her to the bathroom. _

* * *

Brennan just nodded and wiped under her eyes, following Booth to the bathroom. Flicking on the lights as she entered the small room her eyes soon adjusted and she looked at herself in the mirror, suddenly feeling idiotic for crying so much and rubbed at her eyes again. Turning to face Booth she attempts a smile, knowing how hurt he looked to see her so upset. Brennan knew she had gone through much worse things than this in her life but at this moment she felt vulnerable around him and blushed.

* * *

"_Come on, Bones," he whispered, pulling her to him from where he was, sitting on the bathtub. She ended up on his lap. _

"_You're covered in blood, let's get you into some nice warm, clean clothes, hey?" he suggested, and earned another nod from her. He placed her on the edge of the bath and kneeled in front of her. _

_He peeled off her lavender sleep shirt, swallowing at the sight of her in her bra. He took her hand and pulled her up, sliding her butterfly-printed pyjama pants off of her legs, leaving both on a pile on the floor. He grabbed a flannel from the sink and doused it in warm water, dabbing at the patches of blood on her body carefully. When he'd erased all traces of blood, he found a towel and dried her off, being cautious of the bandage._

_He dabbed at her cheeks, wiping her tears, and pushed her matted hair behind her ears. Then he led her to her bedroom where he shuffled around her drawers, and managed to find a clean tank shirt and some pyjama pants. _

_He sat her on her bed and re-dressed her carefully, taking her in his arms when he finished, and sitting with her on the bed. _

* * *

She clung closer to Booth, worried that if she let go of him then she would lose him forever. Brennan shifted slightly in his lap enjoying the warmth radiating from his body compared to how cold she felt. She stared up from him with cerulean blue eyes, which were welling over with tears again. Fatigue and pain were seeping through her and Brennan didn't know how much longer she could stay awake but she needed to ask him to do her one favour, to make her feel safe through the night and keep her from being hurt again. He was her life saver, her rock. She needed him.

"Booth..." she started, her voice croaky. "Will you stay with me for the night? Please…" Brennan begged.

* * *

"_Of course, Bones," Booth promised, holding her tighter and rubbing her upper arms to try and shoo away the goose bumps. _

_He picked her up and pulled the covers back, depositing her in her bed, tucking the covers around her. He kicked off his shoes and laid next to her, on top of the covers, cuddling her close once again. He watched her drift off to sleep from the moonlight shining through the window._

"_I'll stay for as long as you need me," he whispered, kissing her temple as he felt her breathing even out. _

**END**


End file.
